Monday’s transactions were fueled by expectations of a year-end yuletide rally. The stock market continued to surge from the previous session, resulting in a further increase in market capitalization of N70 billion. The market capitalization of listed shares increased by 0.18 percent to N39.218 trillion at the closure of operations yesterday on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), from N39.148 trillion at the close of business on Friday. Additionally, from 71541.74 points exchanged on Friday to 71669.91 points, the All Share Index gained 128.17 basis points. Price increases in major and medium-sized capitalization companies, such as those of SFS Reits, Ecobank…
Author: Iken
Taiwo Oyedele, the chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, and other interested parties have demanded tax breaks for companies doing business in Nigeria. The third National Advertising Conference (NAC), held in Abuja over the weekend, featured speeches from the stakeholders. As part of its continuing economic reforms, it encouraged the federal government to take into consideration tax holidays for specific categories of firms. They claim that there are over 200 different kinds of taxes in Nigeria, 60 of which are recognized by law. They claimed that it is challenging for firms to prosper in the face…
Terra wins LAIF 2023 and ADVAN awards for best marketing In the world of advertising, being unique in a sea of creative talent is something that many aspire to, but only the very best can achieve. The journey to win the most prestigious Grand Prix Award and the Best Campaign of the Year 2023 at the LAIF Awards and ADVAN African Awards, respectively, across all brands and categories in Nigeria was not only a triumph for Terra Cube, the new kid on the block in the seasoning cubes market but also a testament to its unwavering dedication to redefining excellence.…
According to Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), outstanding Sukuk made up 57% of the expected $2.9 billion that the Islamic financing sector of the financial industry achieved by the end of 2022. 42% went to Islamic banks, and the remaining 1% was divided between takaful and Islamic funds. In a welcome speech given yesterday at a current forum on non-interest capital market holding in Abuja, Yuguda revealed this information. Yuguda claims that the development demonstrates how small the Nigerian market is in relation to the global non-interest industry—just 0.9%—and highlights the urgent need for…
The European Union’s export policies towards Beijing, China claimed on Wednesday, the eve of a high-level summit in the Chinese capital, do not “make sense.” Spokesman for the foreign ministry Wang Wenbin stated, “I’m afraid it doesn’t make sense if the EU imposes severe restrictions on the export of high-tech products to China on the one hand, and hopes to significantly increase exports to China on the other.” The head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, together with senior EU diplomat Josep Borrell and European Council President Charles Michel will be in Beijing on Thursday for the EU-China…
Stakeholders have expressed concern that Nigeria, which makes up roughly 60% of the nation’s GDP, is not taking advantage of the trade-in service opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). They made these comments at a roundtable discussion on trade-in services and the AfCFTA that was hosted in Lagos by the Centre for International Private Enterprises (CIPE). Prof. Jonathan Aremu, a consultant for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Common Investment Market, bemoaned the fact that Nigerians are not accustomed to trading services, which account for about 60% of the nation’s GDP, and are only…
Falcon Corporation Limited has announced the successful conclusion of an N19.41 billion loan from Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund (NIDF) as part of its growth ambitions. The loan proceeds would go towards building a dedicated jetty and a 15,000 metric tonne liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage facility at Rumuolumen, Saipem/Aker Base Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers state. An additional 5,000 metric tonnes of storage will be developed later. The project, which is currently in its advanced stage, is being carried out in two phases. The first phase focuses on building a 10,000 metric tonne spherical tank (comprising of two…
When Tijani visited the SecureID Limited facility in Lagos, Nigeria—the first accredited smartcard manufacturing facility in sub-Saharan Africa—he raised awareness of this. The minister’s visit’s main goal was to familiarise himself with the capabilities of SecureID Limited, a business that is certified by Visa International, Mastercard Incorporated, Verve, GSMA, GH-Link, 9001/2015, Card Quality Management (CQM) and has remarkable experience using cutting-edge machinery for smartcard personalization and manufacturing in Nigeria and 21 other African countries. Tijani gave his impressions of the plant during the visit, stating: “I am incredibly impressed by SecureID Limited’s innovative technology and commitment to quality. My confidence…
Over the weekend, the Pukah community in Mangu Local Council, Plateau State, saw the deaths of no less than eleven people. Eight people were killed on Friday by unidentified gunmen who may have been Fulani militia members. The constant attacks on the populace were deemed disrespectful by the inhabitants. The Indians are said to have found three more bodies yesterday while burying the earlier ones. Johnson Musa, a villager who fled to Jos yesterday in search of protection, claimed he saw the gunmen arrive in large numbers and start killing people without cause. The Fulani herdsmen, whose ties with the…
In order to promote economic development, the government has been recommended to invest pension funds in industries that directly affect the residents. This was said at the Lagos unveiling of the National Advisory Board for Impact Investing’s (NABII) sixth annual report, “Investing for Impact in Nigeria.” The research offered suggestions on how to unlock pension funds to mobilize capital to stimulate growth in important sectors, as well as how to invest in women-owned and micro, small, and medium-sized firms (MSMEs). The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) provided funding for the study, which was conducted by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group…
The increasing economic issues in the nation may prevent the insurance sector from realizing its plans to produce a premium of N148.30 billion from third-party vehicle insurance by December 31, 2023, as opposed to N56.76 billion recorded in 2022. Nigerians have been worried that the rise in third-party vehicle insurance prices, which went into effect on January 1st of this year, will make it impossible to restrict the number of phony policies given the country’s existing financial challenges and make the objective too lofty. Industry watchers pointed out that providing less expensive options would draw in gullible drivers, and that…
In order to support the development, training, and updating of human resources in finance and investment for the overall growth of the financial services sector, Zenith Bank Plc and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). On Tuesday, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, the Group Managing Director and CEO of Zenith Bank, Margaret Franklin, the President and CEO of the CFA Institute, and Ibukun Oyedeji, the President of CFA Society Nigeria, signed the Memorandum of Understanding. During the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, Onyeagwu gave a speech in which he praised the CFA Society and…
The federal government has mandated that a Nigerian pilot must be seated on the jump seat with the foreign pilot in every wet-leased aircraft entering Nigeria as a result of the recent incident involving United Nigeria. In order to facilitate communication between passengers and cabin crews on wet-leased aircraft, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo ordered that all members of the crew be Nigerians during a meeting with heads of aviation agencies and a media briefing on recent events in the industry. When describing the Sunday incident, the minister said that it was evident from the transcript provided…
FirstBank UK Limited, the UK arm of First Bank Nigeria Limited, has announced that it has implemented Bloomberg’s Trade Order Management System (TOMS). FirstBank UK will be able to streamline its fixed-income bond business by incorporating TOMS into its workflow. This will provide it access to a full suite of data and analytics, communications, and order and execution management solutions. FirstBank UK caters to a specific market segment for its African clientele. In order to control risk and maximize its inventory, the company offers market liquidity in cash bonds, mainly in Nigerian, Angolan, Egyptian, and Ghanaian Eurobonds. The trading desk…
According to Adegboyega Oyetola, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Nigeria has developed strategies to revitalize the maritime sector that address issues including security, human capital development, climate action, and management of the marine environment. According to a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ismail Omipidan, the minister made these remarks on Monday when speaking to IMO member nations during the organization’s 33rd General Assembly in London. This occurs as IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for establishing the ministry, citing the strategic and forward-thinking nature of the plan. Oyetola claims that the new ministry has made great…
Dr. Chinyere Almona, president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has identified discrepancies between the 2024–2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the federal government’s goal of building a $1 trillion economy in the next six years. According to the head of LCCI, the macroeconomic forecasts in the MTEF indicate that the economy will expand by 3.76 percent, 4.22 percent, and 4.78 percent in 2024, 2025, and 2026, respectively. However, the projected growth rates are not ideal for reaching a $1 trillion GDP by 2029, which would require an average growth rate of 21% over the following six…
At the conclusion of last week’s trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) equities sector, the insurance index led the gainers’ chart with 4.1 percent, helped by purchasing activity in Sovereign Trust Insurance (+27.3 percent) and Sunu Insurance (+17.7 percent). The banking index added 1.9% last week, trailing the industry. The increases were caused by price increases in Zenith (+3.9%) and GTCO (+5.4%). However, due to selling pressure on International Breweries (-5.6%), Champion Breweries (-4.2%), MTN Nigeria (-0.6%), and CWG (-4.2%), the Consumer Goods and AFR-ICT indexes fell by 0.5% and 0.3% w/w, respectively. As a result, the market closed…
Reiterating that it has put in place measures that will propel the compressed natural gas (CNG) project, the Federal Government has stated that it is committed to making sure there is enough gas in the nation. Olu Verheijen, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Energy Advisor, made this statement at Portland Gas’ groundbreaking ceremony in Lagos. In a statement, Verheijen—who was accompanied by Eriye Onagoruwa—said that the signing was in line with the recently announced Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGI), which is an effort to transform the transportation sector, lower energy costs, boost economic growth, create a cleaner environment by lowering…
The company that produces Dano milk, Arla Foods Nigeria, has released a four-year energy transition plan that aims to construct a solar power plant with an installed capacity of 750KVA by 2027 for its state-of-the-art dairy farm in Kaduna State. Speaking during the 2023 Nordic Nigeria Connect inaugural session in Lagos, Peder Pedersen, the managing director of Arla Foods Nigeria, revealed this. According to Pederson, the energy transition plan is in line with the company’s sustainability strategy and goal to develop a dairy industry that, via taking steps to strengthen the earth and enhance the environment, would inspire and promote…
The federal government’s continuing Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program has begun hiring community managers. This was declared in a statement by the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy. According to information provided by the ministry, 37 learning community managers will be hired nationwide as a result of the recruitment drive to oversee program participants’ activities. The ministry stated in a post on X: “We are seeking 37 Learning Community Managers across Nigeria to coordinate the activities of Community members as we commence the #3MTT initiative. The #3MTT Learning Community is a group of students that have complete access…
Team Hi-Tech, under the direction of Afolabi Ayanfe and Sophia Ezeh, emerged victorious in the first FCMB Hackathon Challenge, taking home the N3 million grand prize for developing the digital financial solution Padi4Life. Through a collaboration with Ingressive For Good (I4G), the hackathon introduced a fresh group of tech enthusiasts and promoted creativity and inventive problem-solving. After 60 teams competed in a 72-hour hackathon with over 2,900 entries, Team Hi-Tech’s Padi4Life made the final shortlist. Peer-to-peer lending, asset tokenization, and blockchain-driven investing and engagement features made it stand out. For their KoloPadi solution, Rita Onwudiwe and Augustus Shaminga of Team…
Following its conclusion in Lome, Togo, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc was crowned the African Champion of the Year 2023 at the Africa Financial Industry Summit. The Africa Financial Industry Summit (AFIS) is widely known for its recognition of exceptional accomplishments in the financial sector. It is organized by Jeune Media Group, producers of the pan-African periodicals Jeune Afrique and African Report. According to a statement from the bank, UBA received the award in recognition of its outstanding work and major influence in reshaping the financial sector in Africa. The organizers claim that this enormous recognition is proof of…
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has voiced concern over the ongoing increase in inflation, pointing out that it is limiting consumer savings and spending as well as production efficiency. Dr. Chinyere Almona, the Director-General of the LCCI, expressed regret that Nigeria’s inflation, which increased to 27.33 percent in October from 26.72 percent the month before, is continuing to rise rather than decline. According to her, this is a rise of 0.61 percentage points, and the naira’s constant devaluation can be attributed to rising food and gasoline costs. The yearly inflation rate for consumer prices increased by 6.24…
Over-the-top (OTT) business messaging traffic is expected to reach 375 billion messages in 2028, up from 100 billion messages in 2023, reducing the quality of SMS networks and costing telecoms operators in Nigeria and other parts of the world more than $3 billion in SMS business messaging revenue over the next five years. In a new report, Juniper Research stated that pricing is critical to OTT business messaging growth, noting that lower SMS network quality is being driven by the increased prevalence of fraud, while operators’ SMS costs continue to rise to sustain revenue despite declining demand for business messaging…
Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, stated yesterday that commercialization would have been a better course of action for the nation than privatization. During an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, the minister announced that the government had initiated investigations into the legality of extending the distribution licenses. It was emphasized that the license copy held by the Ministry of Power was scheduled to expire in December. Adelabu revealed that a rise in electricity prices is not anticipated anytime soon because the nation’s political climate necessitates an improvement in the quality of the power supply. He bemoaned the fact that…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Regulatory Sandbox is now free for all association members to use thanks to a partnership between the Fintech Association of Nigeria (FinTechNGR) and EMTECH, which aims to further enhance the financial technology (FINTECH) ecosystem. As CBN’s technical partner for the Regulatory Sandbox, EMTECH provides startups and businesses with a sophisticated onboarding process to enable them to enter the Regulatory Sandbox of the top bank. The arrangement would allow FinTechNGR to provide free access to the CBN Regulatory Sandbox for all of its registered members, according to the organization’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dr. Babatunde…
Given the significance of the position and the difficulties with accountability in the country’s public institutions, Nigerian audit stakeholders have tasked Shaakaa Chira, the recently appointed Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF), with exercising creativity in the performance of his duties. Speaking in separate interviews, the stakeholders noted that one of the main issues facing the next Auditor-General is going to be insufficient financing. Chira’s appointment as the substantive AuGF was accepted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last month, in accordance with the Federal Civil Service Commission’s (FCSC) recommendations. The Senate last Thursday confirmed him. Adolphus Aghughu, who retired from that…
The lack of infrastructure required to generate new products and services, together with inadequate investment in research and development (R&D), have been connected to Nigeria’s underwhelming performance in terms of innovation in the global arena. A capital market professor, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, stated that Nigeria is one of the underperforming nations in terms of innovation due to low investment in R&D, a lack of infrastructure, and a skilled labor force that is necessary to support innovation for business development and the commercialization of new products and services. The conference was held in Lagos over the weekend with the theme “Navigating…
Multichoice, the company that owns DStv and GOtv, has stated that a new price bundle would go into effect on November 6 – this might mean more suffering for Nigerians. This occurs at a time when Nigerians are still battling the fallout from the elimination of gasoline subsidies, the rising cost of living, the depreciating value of the Naira, currency issues, and general unrest. MultiChoice is raising its prices for the third time in 2023 with this new hike, which takes effect on Monday. The increase is almost twenty percent. “On Monday, November 6, 2023, we will adjust our prices…
Yesterday saw significant trading in Airtel Africa shares and 36 other stocks, pushing the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) to 70,581.76 points, the highest level ever reached by the Nigerian stock market. In particular, the ASI increased by 1,345.57 points, or 1.94 percent, at the reopening of trading for the month of November, closing at 70,581.76 points. Additionally, the market capitalization closed at N38.778 trillion, up N739 billion. The Year To Date (YTD) return increased by +37.7% as a result of the development. Gains in medium- and large-cap equities, such as those in Airtel Africa, Presco, FBN Holdings…
